Preparing for Lent

Last month, I had the opportunity to travel with Pastor Chris and Pastor Tony to New Orleans to attend a national church event called The Extravaganza. This is an annual gathering of children, youth and family ministry leaders from across the ELCA. It is so much more than a conference; it’s space to be grow, to worship, to be inspired, it’s learning from colleagues across the country, it’s sharing your insight with others, it’s informative and transformative. This is an event to renew, learn, and connect with others as a way to strengthen our local ministries.

The extravaganza takes place every year in different cities. In the year in which the Youth Gathering is happening, the extravaganza takes place in the same city. This year the gathering was in New Orleans, where the Youth Gathering  will be held in July. More than 800 leaders met to connect, renew ourselves and get to know the city to which we will bring our youth.

I am very grateful to God that I had the opportunity to immerse myself in something new to me as I continued to walk and learn in this new role as a pastor and youth leader in the US. Not only did I learn about the resources available for children, youth and family ministry, but I also learned a little about the city of New Orleans. To be honest, I didn’t know anything about New Orleans before I went. I heard some jokes in our planning meetings about beads, but I had no idea what anyone was talking about.

One of the first things I noticed when I arrived in the city were the colorful souvenirs available. Eventually we had the opportunity to have free time to explore the city. On my walk, I went into the store to buy the prizes for the chili cook-off. Inside the store, I could see that many t-shirts had the word “Bourbon St.” on it. I approached one of the store workers and he explained its the meaning. The worker explained the cultural traditions behind Mardi Gras, but did not explain me the theology behind this celebration. Later, I found out that, this celebration responds to the Christian calendar that begins on Epiphany and concludes the night before Ash Wednesday. During this time, as you all know, people tend to eat as much as possible before they have to deprive themselves of certain foods during Lent.

This tradition reminds me of the call that God always makes to each of us to prepare day after day, not just during Mardi Gras or Lent. God speaks to us, encourages us and reveals to us his great mercy. As we enter into the season of Lent in this month of February, let us think about the things that often try to prevent us from discovering and experiencing God’s love. 

This 40-day journey is a time to reflect and renew as we prepare ourself to remember and celebrate the passion, death, and resurrection of our Savior in “Semana Santa.”  Whether you choose to indulge during the days of Mardi Gras season, or give something up for Lent, or neither, may this time of year help you feel closer to God regardless of your personal journey of faith.

 Pastor Edwin Aparicio

Goodbye 2023, Welcome 2024

Last year when we discovered New Year’s Day was going to be a Sunday, it created a challenge. New Year’s Eve is perhaps the biggest holiday in Latino culture, with staying out all night being the norm, regardless of age. I wondered what to do about worship that Sunday. Should we move it to Saturday, make it later in the day? Cancelling wasn’t any option for me. I decided that we were going to stay with the 10:45 time, but we weren’t going to even try to have a normal Sunday service. Instead of rows of chairs, everyone was seated at a table. The welcome table had pastries and hot chocolate. We started worship with paper to write prayer requests. At the conclusion of worship, we headed outside where we prayed as we sent our petitions to God in the flames of a fire. Everyone appreciated the worship so much that we returned to a similar format again this year. Those of you who were at 10:45 service this year on December 31 were probably wondering what was happening in the parking lot.

I believe that our New Year’s prayers transcend culture and you can pray them, even if it’s not January 1 on the calendar when you read this article.

Prayers for Letting Go of Pain
In the past year, we experienced moments of both physical and emotional pain. We experienced loss and worry. Living Lord, Your love has held us as you walked alongside us during our moments of suffering. Even in our darkest moments, you never left our side. Now may your hope and healing lead us to a place of restoration. Help us to be strong enough to forgive those who have hurt us. Help us to see that forgiveness is a gift we give ourselves. Help us to be free from resentment and anger. As our prayers of pain turn to ash, may we also let go of our pain from this past year and beyond.

Prayers of Thanksgiving
In the past year, we have had moments of blessings big and small. Help us to remember to approach life with gratitude. We thank you for the small moments that brought us quiet moments of beauty: a painted sky at sunrise, shared laughter, and a million moments that we have already forgotten. We thank you for the big moments: the arrival of babies, marriages, success at work, and other things we lift up to you. We send our prayers of thanksgiving to you.

Prayers of Hopes and Dreams
Dear God, With the new year, we have the opportunity for a fresh start to achieve our goals and dreams. We ask that you give us the wisdom to make the right choices to achieve these dreams and the strength to persevere. While we hope for a path without obstacles, allow us to learn from the difficulties we face. Teach us to understand that what we hope for may not be what is best for us in the long run, and to have faith in your plan. Help us to maintain our goodness in our efforts to achieve dreams. We know that you want what is best for us and we are grateful for the blessings that will come to us in the next year. In our prayers and in the flames, we send to you our prayers for our hopes for 2024. 

May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice. (Psalm 141:2)

Happy New Year!

Pastor Edwin

Life’s Moments

The Advent season has arrived, and with it also the end of another liturgical year in this continuous journey of faith as Christians. But what has this year that we are about to end left us? The answers will of course be different because each of us experiences different moments in our lives. The book of Ecclesiastes of the Old Testament tells us: Everything has its time, moment of birth and moments of death, moments to plant and moments to harvest, moments to hurt and moments to heal, moments to cry and moments to laugh, moments to scatter stones and moments to pile up, moments to welcome and moments to say goodbye.

Surely many of us identify with some, if not all, of these moments as we come to the end of the year. I experienced many of those moments this year. Moments to laugh and celebrate when I clicked send to submit my final paper for seminary, moments to laugh and celebrate with my family and all of you at my graduation, moments to celebrate and laugh when you said yes to call me as your third pastor, moments of welcome, hospitality and celebration with the visit of the delegation of El Salvador for my ordination and installation. Moments of tears, death and farewell were present two months after my ordination with the death of my father. Moments to continue planting the gospel and continue harvesting in our ministry, moments to celebrate welcoming new members, moments to celebrate baptisms and welcome them to the body of Christ, moments to continue keeping our multicultural traditions alive in our ministry and more.

In the church, these moments of life are built into the church year with the different seasons: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent and Holy Week, Easter and Pentecost. We begin the church year with the anticipation of the birth of Jesus. As is tradition, our church celebrates Advent and Christmas in a multicultural way. It is the church’s moment of a time of  quiet reflection and anticipation, although expressed in different ways.

The Latino ministry will celebrate the Annunciation with mariachi at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 12, as a way of bringing our Lutheran theology to the traditional festival of Guadalupe. If you would like to join us and learn about this tradition, you are invited to wake up early and bring a breakfast dish to share.

Another of the moments we will have is Las Posadas with mariachi. On Saturday, Dec. 16, at 6 p.m., we will hold a procession outside the church and accompany the Holy Family during their time in Bethlehem looking for an inn. At last, an innkeeper will welcome us with a banquet, music and piñata! We hope you will join us.

In the Latino world, the big party is Christmas Eve. Families gather and celebrate all night long. Some of their celebrations can last until dawn. Santa rarely visits homes in Spanish-speaking countries. Families may exchange a gift on Christmas, New Year’s or Three Kings Day, so without the arrival of Santa, there’s no need for an early Christmas Eve. Latino families in the United States are visited by Santa, but the tradition of an all-night party remains.

As I mentioned at the beginning, everything has its moment. It could be that this year for you has been full of many good and bad moments, loneliness, anxiety, mourning, joy, etc., but during this time of Advent and Christmas let us remember the phrases that the prophet Isaiah tells us: The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Regardless of where you find yourself this season, may it also be a season of peace for you.

Pastor Edwin

Looking Forward, Looking Back

Going to university in the United States is different than in my country. In the place where I grew up, university options are few and the application processes are different and much shorter. Few people live on campus, so your choices are limited to what is on the local bus line for daily commuting. Here the processes are longer and there are more requirements in the process of applying. I experienced this myself when I went to seminary. I was blessed because God put people on my path who guided me throughout my process. And to be honest, as I looked for a Lutheran seminary that would allow me to stay in Waukesha, I didn’t need to explore many options. But for many young people, there are a multitude of options. More options are wonderful things, but the flip side is that it makes the decision more stressful.

But what happens to those young immigrants who want to go to university but do not have anyone to explain it to them and walk with them in that process? As part of my new position, I am leading the high school ministry. Many of the high school juniors and seniors I am working with are going through the process of choosing and applying for college. If I don’t know what this process looks like, it makes it difficult for me to have empathy and understanding for what these young people are experiencing.

This fall, I have the opportunity to accompany a young woman from the Latino ministry as she visits some universities. We had the opportunity to attend Warhawk Preview Day at the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater and later on we will be attending a similar day at the ELCA’s own Carthage College. Both the young woman and I learned about the steps needed to be accepted into schools. Not only did we learn about the application process, but we were also able to obtain information about the costs and scholarships available, especially in this particular situation, for immigrants. The costs of studying are high but there are various options to obtain scholarships and help with costs. This was a wonderful experience for me because I had the opportunity to learn about and experience the process of choosing a university in the United States. As a Latino Pastor, I believe that it is important to know about these processes because it will allow me to give better guidance to those young people who want to go to university but do not have anyone to walk with them. I also am able to more fully understand the pressure our CRASH families face as they fill out mountains of paperwork and balance the options to make the best decision for their future.

While our high school families are looking to the future, at this time of the year our Latino families are preparing to remember loved ones that have passed away. As many of you already know, the Day of the Dead is a celebration that takes place in the first days of the month of November in Latin American countries. The celebrations in many countries are different. In some places the celebration consists of visiting the cemetery on November 2 and decorating the grave with flowers. Families usually bring food, drinks and even music to brighten the time. In other countries, the party is a little more extensive and bigger. The decorations are not only carried out in the cemetery but are also carried out in each of the homes.

As a way to honor these traditions, on Sunday, Nov. 5, we will create a small altar so families can bring their photos and flowers. After the worship, we invite you to join our potluck lunch and to watch the movie Coco (in Spanish)  in West Hall. We hope you join us!

Pastor Edwin

Advent & Christmas 2023

Join us this Advent and Christmas season for this inspiring activties and worship opportunities. Let the light of world shine in your life this season.

Deck the Halls of Ascension

9:30 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2, to prepare the church campus for the season of Advent and Christmas. 

Jubilate Chorale Christmas Concerts

Usher in the Christmas season with the Jubilate Chorale and Friends as they present Song in the Night on Saturday, Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m., St. John’s Lutheran Church, Brookfield, and on Sunday, Dec. 3, 3 p.m., St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, Wauwatosa. Tickets are available from Ascension members Scott Greger and Vicki Taylor, or jubilatechorale.org.

Advent/Christmas Concert Worship

The musicians of Ascension will offer Advent/Christmas Concert worship on Saturday, Dec. 9, at 6 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 10, at 9:30 a.m. followed by brunch. Invite a friend and join choirs, praise band, handbells, and instrumentalists for concert worship on Saturday, Dec. 9, and Sunday, Dec. 10.

The Annunciation / Festival of Guadalupe

We will have a 5:30 a.m. worship in Spanish on Tuesday, Dec. 12, the day of Guadalupe, to remember the words of the angel Gabriel to Mary. Mariachis will lead the music and we will have a potluck breakfast following worship.

Children’s Christmas Program

BLAST children will share the joy of Jesus’ birth through story and song at 10:45 worship on Sunday, Dec. 17. Rehearsal for BLAST children’s Christmas program is Saturday, Dec. 16, 9-11am.

Las Posadas

Remembering the journey of the holy family through the streets of Bethlehem where they were turned away again and again until an innkeeper took pity on their plight. This event, hosted by our Spanish-speaking members, continues to grow year after year. Incredible food, a mariachi band, and a pinata round out the night. It is a glorious gathering of the multicultural community of Ascension. It begins at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 16, with hot cocoa and coffee. Mark your calendars.

Christmas Eve Worship

Sunday, Dec. 24, 3 p.m., 5 p.m., and 9 p.m. (Regular Sunday morning worship at 8:30 a.m. for Fourth Sunday of Advent; no 10:45 worship on Dec. 24). Spanish worship will only be offered at 1 p.m.

Christmas Day Worship

Monday, Dec. 25, 10 a.m.

Amazing Grace

Jesus told his disciples “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” This is a direct command to share the Gospel message to all those who do not yet know it. The question we should ask ourselves is what kind of Gospel has been shared? A Gospel of forgiveness, joy, peace, love and hope? Or are we sharing a Gospel of fear and punishment?

As many of you know, I had to travel to El Salvador to hold my dad’s funeral in my homeland. Funerals in my country and in most Latin American countries are different from funerals here. During the vigil, family, neighbors and friends gather to accompany the family in their grief. As soon as the community knows that a person has passed away, they arrive at the family home to sit with the family. The home of the deceased is filled with the singing of hymns, crying, praying, preaching, and eating tamales, day and night. No one sleeps until after the funeral and burial.

I made the decision to preach here and also preach in the land where I grew up. On the night of the vigil, we had a service. My former pastors from El Salvador Pastora Blanca and Pastor Julio were in charge of the evening service, and I was in charge of the funeral service. As I was preparing my preaching for the funeral, one of the things that came to mind was that the message I was going to share was going to shock everyone in attendance.

My message focused solely on the salvation that Christ brought to the entire world… The Gospel affirms that salvation is obtained by faith in Jesus Christ, who died and rose again to pay the price for the sins of humanity… He opened the way for us to eternal life… The tomb will never be closed again… Christ defeated death, death no longer has power over us… if Christ is resurrected, we will also be resurrected…salvation is by grace and not by works…. After the death of Lazarus, Jesus told Martha, ​​“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”… A few verses later, when Jesus saw that Mary was still doubting, He said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”… Grace leads us to salvation, not works… works are the result of the work that God is already doing in us… salvation is a gift from God… Ephesians 2:8-9: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast.”

A day after this message, family, friends and pastors said that some people had said that they had never heard of God’s grace before. A pastor told me that a member of his church asked her if we are saved by grace and not by works, then why you have preached to us that we are saved by works. I knew that these reactions were going to happen. I knew it because where I’m from they don’t know about grace. They have been about punishment, fear and resentment. Catholics, Evangelicals and even some Lutherans share salvation through works and not by grace.

On my way back home to Waukesha, I was thinking about all the reactions that grace had provoked in the minds and hearts of many. More than 2000 years have passed since grace came to us and there are still people in many parts of the world who do not know it. Brothers and sisters, as we continue on this continuous journey of learning and discernment, let the light of Christ continue to illuminate us to share the message of grace with all those who have not yet received it. 

Pastor Edwin

Ordination & Installation

By the grace of God and the call of the Holy Spirit, the honor of your presence in worship and prayer is requested by the community of Ascension Lutheran Church at the ordination and installation of Edwin Alexander Aparicio Ortez into the Ministry of Word and Sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

3:30 p.m., Sunday, June 25, 2023
Ascension Lutheran Church
1415 Dopp Street, Waukesha, WI  53188

A dinner reception will follow the worship service.

Bishop Paul Erickson – Greater Milwaukee Synod, Presiding
Reverend Christian Marien, Preaching

Clergy are invited to vest and process for worship. The color of the day is red.

What’s Next?

Graduation is now a memory. As you know, on Sunday, May 14, my family and I had a wonderful weekend. My wife even took a day off of work for the first time to extend our stay in Dubuque. On Friday, we visited the aquarium before heading to the seminary. My daughters, Marta and Luisa, were very surprised when they saw Wartburg for the first time. Luisa said this, “Did Daddy go to Harry Potter’s school?” Having toured the building a bit, Luisa wanted to visit the seminary playground. Marta and I joined the cricket game for faculty, students and their families. Marta loved cricket and she’s ready to bring it to Ascension.

Edwin graduating from seminary,
May 2023

Saturday was a day of much practice and celebration. My daughters were part of the baccalaureate procession, so even they had to attend practice. That evening we all attended the banquet where families and friends participated and witnessed the wonderful stories of this brilliant Christian community called Wartburg Theological Seminary.

After four years of waiting — Sunday — graduation day arrived, but the day did not start the way I wanted it to start. I realized that morning that in my excitement I had never written the prayers of the people to send to Pastor Jay, who was subbing for me at Ascension. I stayed in the hotel room, but in my excitement, it took me longer to write the prayers than usual. Finally, my parents-in-law offered to drive to campus with our daughters to save us seats. They got there just in time to get the last seats in the last row! Finally, the prayers were finished, I emailed them to Pastor Tony. My wife and I arrived at seminary and we were able to walk in one minute before the procession started. 

In the afternoon, we had the graduation ceremony. During the ceremony, I was flooded with memories. Remembering my past as a child in my country El Salvador, memories of my time working with the Iglesia Luterana Salvadareña, thought of the ever-present support of the Ascension community, and reflections of all the things my family had to bear due to my absence and my stress. At last the diploma was placed in my hands. The first thing I did was check my name. It was misspelled in the program, so I was worried, but they got it right where it matters — my diploma was written correctly. 

In the month of May, I received an invitation from the Director for Latin America and the Caribbean Service of the ELCA to participate in a workshop in Mexico from June 5 to June 9. The workshop consists of Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation Processes for companions in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. This will be my first learning experience in this type of event.

The continuous life of learning and discernment continues. A cycle has ended. Now, I’m waiting for what the Holy Spirit says about the next journey he has prepared for me, my wife and my daughters. Psalm 32.8 says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;  I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.” 

Edwin Aparicio, Spanish-language minister

Looking Back, Looking Forward

I find myself struggling with trying to decide what to write about this month. Do I write about the exciting aspects of ministry this past December? We had our first early morning celebration of the annunciation. And when I say early morning, I mean 5:30 am worship on a Monday morning. And not just any Monday morning, but the Monday after the Advent concert when nearly all of our families had already been at church both Saturday night and all morning Sunday. We were unsure what to expect, but we had a full sanctuary, including several visitors. We enjoyed worship led by mariachi musicians who sang the traditional songs of the Festival of Guadalupe and shared breakfast together at the end of worship.

Las Posadas

Or what about Las Posadas? It was our fourth year hosting this living advent devotion and celebration and it was bigger and better than ever, even in the cold. We were excited this year to open the children’s pageant to all of Ascension’s children, so we were led by a multicultural parade of Bible characters, sheep, donkeys, and cows. We needed two piñatas for all of the fun! It was a fun night of fellowship between native English speakers and native Spanish speakers, Ascension members and many visitors.

Personally, I finished my seventh semester of seminary and was approved for ordination. There is so much I could write about what it is like to be this close to the end of school!

Perhaps it would be better for me to write a more forward looking article on all of the exciting things to come. On January 3, I will be leaving for sixteen days for a seminary course in Israel. For reasons that I don’t understand, according to seminary I have not had any cross-cultural experiences. While I feel like the work I have been doing as a Salvadoran immigrant in a US seminary should have counted as my cross-cultural experience, I won’t complain too much if it means I “must” go to Israel with experts on the area. I am both excited and nervous about this opportunity.

Maybe this is an opportunity to tell you about our next Holy Day we will be observing.

Los Reyes Magos

The Three Kings will be arriving at Ascension on Sunday, January 8 at 10:45 am. We will welcome them with a potluck lunch after worship. Special music guests, Puerto Rican Band Cache MKE will provide music for worship and lunch.

In several Spanish speaking countries, this is the day children receive their gifts, just like baby Jesus did. The Magi are the ones that bring presents, not Santa. In keeping with the tradition of exchanging gifts on Three Kings Day, there will be a $5 secret Santa gift exchange at lunch. You are invited to bring a gift that matches your category (Girl, Boy, Man, Woman) and participate.

Lunch will include a traditional rosca. If you’ve never eaten a rosca before, it includes a surprising ingredient, plastic baby Jesus. Find out what it means to receive the Baby Jesus in your rosca!

There is so much to celebrate here at Ascension, whether we are celebrating what just happened or looking forward to what is on its way. May you find the moments in your own life to enjoy the memories of the good times of the year that has just ended, or happiness in looking forward to what is to come.

Edwin Aparicio, Pastoral Intern

Church Together

And my internship is over!!! It seems like yesterday I started my eighteen month internship. During this period, I had the opportunity to learn new things in our multicultural context here at Ascension. I am grateful for the support with both the English ministry and Latino ministry; with the English community, for having opened their doors to me and listening to my preaching, and the Latino community for having been patient during my absences from worship services. These words sound as if this type of experience will not be repeated, but it is not like that, as you heard in my last sermon Pastor Chris told me that, “It was not my last preaching.” Sorry. You will have to continue to struggle listening to the Spanglish sermons.

Pastoral Intern Edwin Aparicio

I am sure that this post-intern period will bring new experiences in my journey of formation and discernment. Within these new experiences last month, I had the opportunity to attend a training for mission developers of the ELCA program REDIL Ecumenical Network for the Development of Latino Churches. The training consisted of bringing together leaders from all over the country to share their experiences with each other, and thus learn from each other.

One of the learnings that caught my attention was the way in which most of the missions are working. In all of the other congregations that were represented there that day, the Latino congregations were operating as separate congregations from the English-speaking congregations. From what I experienced that day, Ascension is pioneering a new type of bicultural ministry in a way that is unique in the ELCA. Most of our meeting time was spent talking about topics like collecting enough money in their offering to pay rent to the English-speaking congregations. Other churches talked about the lack of voice in the direction of their church, no representatives in council or otherwise.

After returning from this event, I began to work with the mariachi band Voces de America. They were so thrilled to be asked back to our event. They provide the music for a variety of Las Posadas events around the Milwaukee area and they told me that Ascension is their favorite due to the participation of so many people from the church. May we continue to be brave as we find new paths to being the body of Christ together.

Edwin Aparicio, Spanish Language Minister